


The (Aspiring) Little Giant's Sick Day

by SpiritBloodDragon



Series: The (Aspiring) Little Giant and the Introverted Kitten [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cliche, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hugs, I learned how to tag!, Introvert and Extrovert, Love, M/M, POV Alternating, POV First Person, POV Hinata Shouyou, POV Kozume Kenma, POV Third Person, Short & Sweet, Sickfic, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24673252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritBloodDragon/pseuds/SpiritBloodDragon
Summary: Hinata and Kenma have finally gotten together after their respective teams created the same elaborate plan.However, unfortunately the former had been irresponsible enough to keep them out later and without enough protection from the elements, he falls ill.It's not anything life-threatening to anyone...except Kenma and Hinata. The former because of his fussing for Hinata's health, and the latter because of one tiny detail: he isn't allowed to play volleyball until he recovers.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma
Series: The (Aspiring) Little Giant and the Introverted Kitten [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783936
Comments: 4
Kudos: 85





	1. Cause for Concern

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> I made a sequel!
> 
> So, I'm making this after getting the idea out of nowhere, and I've got a few ideas already about what I might wanna do next in this sort of series. Maybe a first date, moving in together, wedding, and stuff. Not sure right now.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

"G'morning, Kenma!" Shou's bubbly voice echoes through the room, bouncing off the walls. "You okay?" Yes and no.

There are two reasons for that.

One, I am now in a relationship with the embodiment of sunshine. However, it means I have to get up early. And knowing Shou? Any time I sleep over with him, I'll be up before the actual sun is. Sad. I like sleeping in because I stayed up too long.

I gently nod, the blankets still over me as I whisper quietly, "Morning, Shou." Gently smiling at him, I try to move back into the shade as he snaps the window open. "What time is it?" My body feels so...numbingly warm. It's a content sort of warm, like in a blanket during winter.

"5:48 A.M!" He chirps, and every natural alarm in my body screams, urging me to fall back asleep. "Why? I got hungry!" Sure, you're hungry. Wonder what he eats to have all this energy.

"What are you gonna eat?" I ask, holding my hand out from under the blanket. "Actually, if you are gonna eat, can it be in a few minutes? I wanna lie down for a bit."

"Sure!" He agrees, before snapping the blanket off of me and leaping onto the bed. Instantly, I bounce up before I can be aware of it, and my eyes snap wide open.

"S-Shou!" I gasp, landing back on the bed. "What was that for?" I send a light glare at him, but I can't hold the anger in my eyes for long considering his innocent smile.

"I wanted to hug you!" He answers, quickly snaking his arms around me.

I like him. I really do like Shou.

I'm still not into hugs, unfortunately, but his hugs are nice. I gently hug back, perching my head on his shoulder. I stay quiet, but I can't help but notice something. As I hug him back, his shoulders tense for a moment and he becomes a bit more restless.

"Shou, you good?" I gently ask, pulling away slightly to look into his eyes. "You seem more restless than normal."

"Hey, I just woke up!" He grins. "Don't worry about it!"

Yep, he's feinting something. Maybe he's still shy about this whole thing? About us dating? Probably.

I gently hug him closer, whispering, "You're warm." I pull him back down so that we're lying down again, and I gently melt into his arms. Turning around so I can grab my phone for a moment, I let myself become more accustomed to being awake. I guess that there's no going back now.

"Kenmaaaaa," he singsongs. "Can I have a kiss?" Even though his tone is playful, I notice it's a bit rough. Maybe he didn't sleep well.

"Nope," I deny, facing away from him. "I'm playing."

I can tell he's pouting, and I have an amused smile on my face. He does this for the next couple of seconds until I give in, turning around to place a gentle peck on his cheek.

"You missed!" He pouts, pointing at his lips. "You're supposed to do it right here!" I roll my eyes, and wonder what I can do to retaliate. Maybe just give him another kiss on the cheek? No, too basic. Maybe just kiss him? No, that wouldn't even help me. That's stupid.

Ah, screw it. I'll give in.

"Fine," I respond, turning back around to face him and gently kiss him.

At least, it would've been like that...until he sneezed.

"Ew!" I declare, wiping a bunch of the snot off of my cheek. "Into your sleeve, Shou." I turn my tone down, and I can tell he looks a bit regretful.

"S-Sorry, Kenma," he apologizes, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't mean to." I blink. I want to be annoyed with him, even in the slightest, but right now, I can't find it in me to be annoyed at him.

"It's fine, Shou," I assure. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yep! I'm perfectly--" He sneezes. "I'm perfectly fine, s--" another sneeze. "See?" He gives a weak smile, potentially the contender for the worst fake smile I've ever seen.

He sniffles, and that's what fully convinces me.

"Shou, you're sick, aren't you?" I ask, a bit concerned. "Do you want me to get you a tissue?"

"B-But I'm not sick!" He stutters, trying to deny it but only ends up getting halfway through another sentence before coughing. I raise an eyebrow at him, and he slumps over, defeated.

"Fine. I'm sick," he admits. "C-Can you tell my team that I'll have to cancel? I invited them over for breakfast a-and I wanted to cook for them."

"It's okay, Shou," I coo. "I'll cook in your place, okay?" I kiss him on the forehead lightly to make him feel better, and I think it does. At least, that's what his smile tells me.

Also...I did not think I could ever have that amount of affection in my voice. What sort of teenager coos at another boy?

Me, I guess.

Anyways, as I smile at him, I head downstairs only to come across what may be the only living being on Earth that has as much energy as Shou: His sister, Natsu.

"Kitty!" She points at me with excitement. "Are you staying over?!" 

Wait.

I point at myself, "Why am I Kitty?"

"Cause that's what Nii-Chan has you saved under with a little heart!" She explains, bouncing up and down. "Are you his boyfriend?!" I blush a little bit at both of those sentences. He has a pet name for me? God, what do I call him, then?

I eventually nod.

"Yay! You must make Nii-Chan very happy!" She blasts, giggling. "Wait, where is Nii-Chan?"

I hope I make Shou happy. He really does deserve the best, and I hope I can provide that for him. In reality, I doubt I can, but I'll try my hardest.

"Shou's in bed right now. He's a bit sick," I quietly explain, and she seems a bit surprised that I'm this quiet. It makes sense, honestly. Someone as loud and bouncy as Shou with someone as antisocial with me? It surprised even me when I realized how far I'd fallen for him.

"Ooh! Maybe we can ask the mean boy who Nii-chan plays volleyball with to bring some medicine!" Natsu proclaims, tossing her arms up in the air. "He's super mean to Nii-chan but he tries to be really nice to me!"

Oh, it must be Kageyama. I don't have his number.

"Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you bring out just a bunch of stuff from the kitchen? I'm going to be cooking in Shouyou's place," I simply explain. "I'm going to ask Shouyou for Kageyama's number to update him."

"Sure!" she chirps, skipping into the kitchen. Maybe it's a family thing.

You know what? I've had this on my mind for a while but I just need to say it.

I know that Shou's going to be okay. It's just a fever. I know that. I am absolutely certain that while he won't be completely 100% for a few days, he'll be okay. But I can't help but feeling like I need to protect him, like serve to his every need and whim if it'll make him feel better.

I can't help but be super worried. I am really worried about this, even if I don't show it.

I...If something happens to Shou if he pushes himself too far...I don't know what I'd do.

I walk up the stairs again, knocking on the door.

The coarse voice of Hinata comes through again, "Come in."

"Shou, do you need anything?" I ask upon entering. "I'll bring you anything."

"A-A bottle of water w-would be nice," he admits, blushing a little bit. "Gah, this sucks." He has a sour expression on his face, and I'm pretty sure I know why.

"What sucks?" I ask, even though I pretty much know the answer.

"I can't kiss you!" He groans. "And even more, I can't play volleyball until I get better!" He pouts. I gently kiss him on the forehead, somewhat proving his point wrong.

"Hey, Shou? Could you give me Kageyama's number so I can ask him for something?"

He blinks, registering my question before nodding. He holds up his phone, and I quickly copy the number down.

"I'll bring you an ice pack. I think you have a fever," I state, heading out.

"Fine..." I hear him utter as I close the door.

Well, here goes nothing.

~~~

"Tanaka, shut up already!" Daichi commands. "We're already on our way to have breakfast with Hinata, you don't need to make it even louder!"

As the Karasuno Volleyball team walk up the somewhat steep incline to the area where Hinata lived, they had to deal with all the banter and arguments transpiring between four people: Kageyama, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Tsukishima, the last of which had been starting some of these arguments with his usual snide remarks.

"Huh? What's this?" Kageyama wonders out loud, pulling out his phone at the buzz of a notification.

"What is it, Kageyama?" Sugawara asks.

"A text...from a number I don't know. It's asking to bring some medicine to Hinata's place. I'll ask who it's from and why," Kageyama shrugs, quickly typing up the response. "I'll go get the medicine and catch up with you guys, I guess."

"Nah," Nishinoya interrupts with a grin. "We're all going with you! We're gonna get to Hinata's house together!"

"Um. Okay."

It didn't take too long to get the medicine after all, though the answer as to who asked Kageyama to get medicine still eluded the team. Luckily, Coach Ukai had opened the store a bit before they had gotten there, but he ended up charging a bit extra due to Tanaka's recklessness in knocking a bottle over.

"Asahi, ring the doorbell," Daichi requests, with a tone softer than he uses with that of Tanaka and Nishinoya; it's not like Asahi's ever done anything to warrant harshness in the first place.

"Coming!" Natsu's voice comes through the door, before a voice interrupts her temporarily, though the voice is too quiet to make out any of the words. "Oh, okay, Kitty! I'll go see what Nii-chan's doing!"

In an instant, the only thing that could go through the minds of Karasuno was who 'Kitty' could possibly be. They'd met Natsu before, and she'd never mentioned somebody by that nickname. Whoever it was, they were slightly on guard as to who Hinata'd have over that wasn't them at this time.

"Hi there," the voice greets as the person behind it opens the door. "Hinata's upstairs right now. I'm making breakfast in his place."

Blinks.

Silence.

Confusion.

And so much more.

That amalgamation of actions and feelings was the only sort of concise explanation possible for what Karasuno was going through right now. However, after a few moments, sharp grins etched onto their faces in the realization that the plan they devised had succeeded.

"Kenma...why are you here?" Kageyama questions, a smirk already on his face as he tries to confirm his intuition.

"Oh. Um...Shou...may have asked me out," he answers, and it's decently obvious that he's not telling absolutely everything. The biggest indicator? There was a light blush on Kenma's cheeks as he averted his eyes for just a moment. However, even to somebody such as Tanaka and Nishinoya who held no filter whatsoever, they knew not to look into something such as that.

Surprisingly enough, it's Kageyama who speaks up first, "I'm glad you two are happy. Speaking of, where is the dumbass anyways?"

As if it was rehearsed, Kenma answers, seeming as if he knew Kageyama would ask and that he would address Hinata as such, "I told you. He's upstairs. If you want to go see him, please bring him up the medicine. If you want to eat, I've put a bit of food on the table and I have some in the kitchen right now."

Remembering the previous times that they'd visited Hinata before, they had been extremely used to the chaotic joy that came with the chirping excitement of the embodiment of sunshine. The stark contrast that came with the quiet, reserved Kenma was quite the welcome change.

As the Karasuno team came into the room, they all funneled up the hallway to go to Hinata, and Kenma starts to head to the kitchen until he hears Sugawara fuss and stress over the condition of the now quiet ginger who they had never even witnessed stop talking other than during a volleyball match.

He tries to ignore the various coughs and sniffles that tear at his heart and make him worry even more until he hears the buzz of a notification from Kageyama and he instantly knows that he needs to head up.

"Shou," Kenma interrupts quietly as he walks into the room. "Why did Kageyama tell me to come up here and...as he said, 'knock some sense into you?'"

"Because they won't let me play volleyball!" Hinata complains, crossing his arms. "I wanna play so bad and I invited them for breakfast because we could hang out and then maybe play volleyball!"

"And we're saying that you need to stay in bed."

Kageyama's voice cuts through the air, sharp and quick. The response held a serious tone to it, something different than his normal tone towards the middle blocker.

"But I wanna play! Just cause I'm sick doesn't mean I can't play!" Hinata counters, groaning. It's clear how antsy he is, having sat in bed for the last hour doing practically nothing other than playing some games on the Switch that Kenma had brought with him.

"And what, are you gonna get me sick...again?" Tanaka argues, pushing and hoping that him getting sick from Hinata doesn't become a recurring event.

"I just wanna move around! I wanna play volleyball, but I also just wanna move around right now!"

The argument between Karasuno and Hinata continues as to whether or not he should be allowed to get up and move around until Kageyama breaks the trend of continuous counters without going anywhere to convince the other side.

"Kenma, this is sort of why I asked you to come up here," Kageyama admits. "Can you...tame him?"

~~~

Tame me? Why phrase it like that, Bakageyama?!

Why would I need to be tamed, anyways?! I'm right! I should be out and about like a normal teenage boy! Not laying in bed waiting for Death to just leave! I should be running and playing and hugging people and helping people and smiling, not be a sack of potatoes in bed!

"Shou, you should really stay in bed," Kenma advises, his tone sounding different than everyone else. It almost sounds like he's pleading, and I feel a bit torn between listening to him or just running around. I know they want the best for me. But I want the best for me, too, and I don't wanna just laze around.

"B-But K-Kenma--"

"Call him Kitty!" I hear Natsu call out from the hallway. "Isn't that your nickname for him?!"

I blush, and so does Kenma at the sudden interruption.

Kageyama blinks, then smirks, "Oh, so you call him Kitty?"

"S-Shut up!" I retort, my cheeks burning red. "C-Can I just talk to Kenma?"

"Sure, Hinata. Don't let us get in the way of your pet name," Tsukishima quips, and I flush a little more.

"A-Anyways," I continue. "Kenma, why can't I go out?!" I try to hit him with the puppy eyes trick, and it almost works, but in the end, it doesn't work on him right now. It worked before! Why can't it work now?!

He blinks. Something's stuck in his throat, and I can see his eyes narrow a little bit in thought. There's something he wants to say, but he can't say it.

"Karasuno...is it okay if you step outside for a bit?"

Oh no.

There has to be something he really wants to say if he won't even say it out loud to other people.

I'm sort of worried, honestly.

As they step outside, Kenma takes a step closer to me.

"Shou, you know I hate like...physical contact in general, right?" He asks, his tone a bit different. I can see how tense his shoulders are. I nod, not knowing where he's going with this. I mean, he high-fives Kuroo a bunch...and he likes to cuddle with me. Well, I guess those are the only exceptions.

"W-Well..." he hugs me.

Kenma.

Hugs me.

I thought the kiss was something he would really have to work up to do, but that was...just pure emotion acting. Neither of us knew how to act, and honestly, I'd probably kiss him right here and now if I could.

"Shou..." he whispers. "I don't want you to get worse. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I failed to take care of you. I...I love you, Shou. I love your hugs and kisses and cuddles. And I hate that I admitted it. But I do. And...I...I want you to get better, no matter what."

I gulp. Every word he said...I can tell he means it. I tear up a little bit, and even though it's slightly more disgusting by occasional coughs and sniffles, I know he meant every single word.

"K-Kenm--" I stop myself, thinking over my options of whether or not to do it.

"Huh? What were you going to say, Shou?" He asks, slightly pulling away, and I look into his eyes. There's concern, care, love, and so much stress. I can tell how much he cares and wants me to get better. I feel this sort of desire within me.

I want to be outside. I want to be playing volleyball. But at the same time? I...I love Kenma. I don't want him to worry about me, and I know he's right in the end.

So if I have to suffer by staying inside? If it's best for me, and if he doesn't stress? I'll be fine in the long run, right?

"K-Kitty," I stutter, instantly going bright red as he does too. "God, I suck at flirting -- anyways..." I cough. "I-I'll stay inside."

He captures me in another embrace, and at this point, I don't think he cares about getting sick from hugging me.

"Thank you, Shou," he whispers, and I can feel the gratitude in his voice, the relief, the hope, the sweetness that comes in the little package that is Kenma. I tear up a little bit more, and a few tears fall from my face, knowing how much he cares.

"I love you, Kitty..." Still feels weird saying that, but I think it'll eventually grow on me.

"I love you too, Shou," he responds. "C-Can I admit something?"

I nod.

"C-Calling me Kitty feels a little bit weird...but I don't dislike it," he admits, with a tiny smile on his face. In hindsight, I realize that in the last two days, I've seen more emotion from him than ever. As he wipes the tears off of my cheeks, he kisses me on the forehead.

"Please get better, Shou."

I hear Nishinoya's voice cut through our conversation, "Awwww!" I blink, barely realizing what happened.

The door isn't even closed.

"Dumbass!" Sugawara takes a page out of Kageyama's book of insults that consists of probably one page, I think. "We were supposed to be quiet!"

I stutter, incredibly embarrassed, "D-Did you hear all of that?!"

Tsukishima pops his head into view, and simply nods, "I didn't want to cause it's none of my business, but Tanaka forced me to stay. Sorry."

I flush. I can only imagine how Kenma feels.

I turn to him. I expect him to have a bright red blush on his face, completely embarrassed and trying to hide in the darkest corner of the universe.

What he did instead?

He fainted in my arms.

"K-Kenma!"


	2. Cute Cuddly Caretaker

With Shou sick and all, the past few days hadn't been going so great.

Somewhat conveniently and inconveniently, I had been on break for the next week because of Spring Break. However, Shou has his spring break next week.

So, technically speaking, he still has to go to school. And as much as I want to be able to, I can't convince Shou's mom that he shouldn't go. It's not that she's a mean lady; it's the opposite. She's incredibly kind and friendly, and when I ended up telling her that I was with Shou, she was incredibly accepting, albeit somewhat surprised.

"Shou, are you sure?" I ask, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. Gently wrapping my arms around him from behind, I perch my head on his shoulder and look at his features. He's...so frail. I felt like I wanted to hold him like a flower before, but now? I feel like even if I glance at him the right way, he'll puke.

He coughs and sniffles, and I whisper, "Shou...if you want, I can come to your school with you."

"B-But what if they throw you out?!" He interrupts, and it's a valid point. I don't really think about it that much, but I think I can get away, especially in his classes.

I'd like him to stay home so he can get better. Unfortunately, his grades don't really permit that. I hear that no matter where you go, school is absolutely hell. I wonder if it's better in America.

"I mean, if I can make a good enough excuse, they'd probably let me stay," I shrug. "Besides, if the excuse is related to your abysmal grades, Karasuno's bound to accept my presence. I hear they're desperate to get your grades up."

"H-Hey! Who told you that?!" Shou protests, his voice still rough.

I blink, not sure if it's okay to really rat him out, "Sugawara. I knew your grades were pretty bad since you had to take supplementary classes and whatnot. But is it true? Did you actually not get double-digit scores?"

"T-That's not my fault! I-It's not my fault volleyball's on my mind all the time!" He denies, flushing in embarrassment. I'm somewhat taken aback by that. I mean, of course, volleyball's the only thing on his mind. That's not what surprised me.

"Shou, is it really to the point where you literally got 1 out of 80 points on your math test last semester?" I rebut, raising an eyebrow. His eyes turn downcast, but I can tell he's not that miserable at my words. After all, I can still notice that slight upturn on the ends of his lips.

He's cute.

"I-I'm not that stupid," he denies. "I-I just can't pay attention."

I gently smile at him, "I'm not that good a teacher, but maybe I could help you out when you're better. But right now, just stay quiet. I don't want you hurting your voice anymore. Okay, Sunshine?"

Oh.

Oh crap.

I don't know what came over me. It just...sort of fit to say. Like it just...rolled off the tongue really smoothly. Does that make sense?

"Aw, Kenma! You like me!" Shou teases, and I blush. I guess his sickness doesn't stop him from trying to make me embarrassed every now and then.

"Shush," I gently smile. "Besides, I love you."

I see him visibly brighten, and I think I do in turn. His smiles make the world brighter, I think. Or maybe that's just my world.

I mean, it makes me happy, so what's the difference?

"Anyways, I'll bike you to school. Is that okay?" I ask, helping him put on his backpack. It really does feel like he's even more vulnerable than before. He blinks, and seems hesitant, but eventually nods.

"I-I mean, I usually r-race with Kageyama," he scratches the back of his head in anticipation. As if I'm going to let him run full power in his current state.

"Shou, I'll carry you to school if I have to," I sigh; it's true. If I have to do that, I don't really care how tired I get. I mean, I'll probably give out a quarter of the way through, but I'll try. "Either way, c'mon.

You told me you wanted to at least be there for morning practice, so I'll bring you there."

He hugs me, "Thank you, Kenma!" I gently hug back, pulling him slightly close. I can't help but feel warm hugging him, and even though it sounds pretty creepy, the scent of Hinata makes me feel like

I'm at home, in a way.

And even though he sounds really tired and frail right now, there's still that classic tone of unfiltered joy and positivity just radiating in his voice. He's trying his best to sound normal right now, I just know it.

And soon, I hope he doesn't have to try to sound normal.

"Oy, dumbass!" I hear Kageyama call out from outside, and both of us turn to the source of the voice: outside. Did he really come all the way up the mountain to bring Hinata to school?

Here's the thing. I think being jealous in some sort of fashion would be normal in a teenage relationship. Especially with the sort of friendship and bond that Hinata and Kageyama have, I think a lot of people would end up feeling some sort of pang of jealousy.

Oddly enough, I don't feel any sort of jealousy towards Kageyama for having a longer bond with Shou.

I'm actually glad somewhat. Because even though they argue a lot, I know Kageyama cares about his safety and when I can't be there for Shou, I can trust Karasuno to take care of him.

I can't feel any sort of jealousy towards what I'm very grateful for, especially when it makes Shou happy.

I just hope the next few days can go smoothly.

"Shou, you ready?" I ask, hesitantly intertwining my fingers with his. Since he's a little shorter than me, he leans on my shoulder for support. He's surprisingly light, even for his height.

He gently nods, and together, we go outside to meet Kageyama, who's surprisingly brought a bike for himself and got Shou's bike from the stand.

"C'mon, dumbass. You gotta get your grades up."

"Aren't yours worse than mine?"

On second thought...maybe this bike trip was going to be tough on its own.

~~~

"Yachi, could I ask you something?" Hinata asks roughly, lightly sniffling. After a few minutes of talk, all done by Ennoshita considering his literal positive relationship with all of the staff at Karasuno, they had allowed Kenma to be with Hinata throughout the next week as long as he wasn't going to be disruptive during class.

"Hm?" She perks up. The two of them often walked to class in the halls together, since they could find safety in their inferior height. Despite their different classes considering their extremely different academic abilities, the classes they went to were uncharacteristically close to one another.

"W-What d-do you think, n-now that Kenma and I a-are dating?" He stutters, coughing in between words at times. Hearing his name, however, the cat-eyed setter who was carrying Hinata's school things perked up, listening a bit in.

Whether or not he showed it, he did care about the opinions of Karasuno when it came to their relationship, and their managers were no different. While he did stay silent, he intently listened to the young girl's response.

Yachi blinks, before brightly smiling, "You guys are dating?! I was wondering why Kenma was here!" It comes to the mind of Kenma and Hinata that she and Kiyoko had not come the day before to hang out with Hinata, mainly because they had things to do. Same thing with Narita.

"Yeah, Kenma and I are together," Hinata stutters with a faint pink on his cheeks.

"We got together two days ago after Shou spilled out his feelings to me," Kenma interrupts; he knew that Hinata had been struggling through the sentences he was saying. He heard it in how his voice seemed to be getting worse, and handed a bottle of water to Hinata who gratefully thanked him.

"Well, that's swell!" Yachi chirps. "I'm really happy for you two." She clasps her hands together, and continues: "Kenma, can I tell you some embarrassing stories about Hinata?"

He raises his eyebrow, but gains a very slight smirk on his face, "I'd love to hear them."

"W-W-Wait!" Hinata instantly jumps in between them, even though it makes him feel a little lightheaded. "T-There aren't any embarrassing stories to tell!"

"Well, now that I think about it," A voice interrupts from behind. "I think there were a ton of occasions at the training camp that I can name off the top of my head when you were ogling Kenma."

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi's voice quietly interrupts. "I know that those times exist before Hinata even knew, but you don't have to bring them up!"

"Oy, you five! Get to class!" The vice principal interrupts, and the five of them realize that the warning bell had just rung, and most of the students had dispersed already.

As luck would have it, mainly for Hinata and not the setter, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Yachi were all in the higher classes, and there weren't a lot of people who really knew Hinata in class unless they fell under the charm of his typical Sunshine Smile.

Unfortunately, as Kenma had learned throughout the first hour of the school day, Hinata's main expression wasn't exactly as happy and pepped up as usual.

"Shou, are you serious?" Kenma furrows his eyebrows, leaning a bit on the wall near where Hinata sat at. Luckily, nobody really paid attention to the quiet setter who was playing games while sitting on the floor right next to Hinata, who's desk was in the row right next to the wall. 

Right now, the two of them were in English class, and Kenma had taken a bit time away from gaming to put his head on the table and look at the work that Hinata was going through. Granted, since he was sick, he could barely put any effort into his work.

Not that his grades indicated that he put any effort into it beforehand, but even compared to that, this was incredibly sad.

"Shou...you do know how to spell 'adorable,' right?" Kenma skeptically asks, though part of him doesn't want to know the answer given the likely answer.

"..." His eyes were tired, and he could see the bags in his eyes from literally the worst sleep of his life, or at least, that's how it felt. He'd had worse the day before a volleyball match.

Kenma gently put his hand on top of Hinata's, concern in his voice as he suggests, "Shou, should we go to the nurse?" Luckily enough, considering how low the class Hinata took was, there were quite a bunch of delinquents in the class that the teacher had to deal with. Hinata was one of her more favored students, despite his abysmal grades.

Hinata snaps his neck to look at Kenma in a frantic effort to say no, but the stark change in motion instantly causes a wire to snap in his head, and he feels a little dizzy. He visualizes the pain in his head pretty clearly by holding the back of his head while quietly whimpering, almost silent.

Kenma's eyes slightly widens, a sort of protective sense within him overriding his hatred for social interactions by gently raising his hand. It takes a few seconds of internal panic within Kenma for the teacher to notice him, but afterwards, she nodded.

"Do you need something...Kozume, was it?" She addresses, her tone slightly uncertain; Kenma can tell she has a lot on her plate, and he gently nods.

"Could I take Hinata to the nurse? He seems a little dizzy." At this sort of observation, she seems a little bit in doubt until he sees the frail form of Hinata, who doesn't even resemble the frustration he's shown in class at times when he can't focus or get the answer right.

Looking at Kenma for a moment, she can tell he doesn't like talking to people. His quiet tone and reserved demeanor were a few signs, but she could tell otherwise. This simply led to a quick nod before getting back to her own job of managing the others, letting Kenma and Hinata do their own thing. She trusted him enough, if he was allowed to come in by the vice principal.

"C'mon, Shou..." Kenma urges, his tone laced with a bit of fear. He was afraid, and his voice betrayed his apathetic expression. "Can you walk there?"

Silence.

Unfortunately, as the teacher had stopped her conversation with some of the other members in class, it piqued their interest. After all, what would there be that could possibly be more important than their own interactions and conversation?

Their eyes instantly led to Kenma and Hinata, who had been struggling to find a way to get Hinata to leave the room in the first place.

Kenma gulps. If there was any doubt before, it'd all been wiped away, for Kenma now knew exactly what it felt like playing against Nekoma, seeing the observing eyes of his teammates on the other side of the court. For a moment, he wonders if he heavily contributed to that before focusing back on the task at hand.

"K-Kenma? I-Is something okay?" Hinata's voice sounded like echoes to Kenma, who was focusing on his attempt to stay composed.

Deep inhale.

Deep exhale.

Rinse and repeat.

He nods, before standing up and putting his Switch in his jacket pocket, "C'mon, Shou. I'll take you to the nurse."

Hesitantly, Hinata takes Kenma's hand and stands up, only to feel a bit worse.

All the alarms in Kenma's mind go off at once, instinct acting before reason. He hated that. He hates feeling frantic, worried, unprepared in any fashion.

Because to Kenma, it means he does things he isn't used to doing. It means regret, it means embarrassment. It means social anxiety.

"K-Kenma! W-What are you doing?!" Hinata's rough voice is the only sound in the room right now as he clings to Kenma's shoulders. His words fall on deaf ears.

"It's okay, Shou. I got you."

As the two of them walk out of the classroom, the teacher wonders out loud, "Did he...just carry Hinata like a bride or something?"

~~~

"K-Kitty, what's gotten into you?!" I hiss quietly, trying to grab his attention; there's nothing in his eyes that I can see other than sheer worry and concern. This wasn't the Kenma I'm used to. 

I want him back. I want the quiet, cute, cuddly Kenma back.

"Shou...I don't want you to get worse," he chokes out. "I don't care how far I have to carry you."

I blink.

He's such a Prince Charming to me.

"K-Kenma..." I whisper. "Please don't do this. I want you back..." I gently move up, and even though there's a sharp pain in my head, I gently press my lips to his cheek.

"Shou," he whispers back, a bit more emotion in his voice. I feel his gaze soften, and I can tell there's an ounce of regret in him. He leaves a little bit of silence the next few seconds, only leaving the sounds of pattering on the floor from his footsteps.

"I promise I'll be the same Kenma you know when you're better," he assured, kissing my temple. "Right now, I need to worry about you. It's my job as your caretaker and your boyfriend."

I gently argue, making sure not to push too far until I puke or something, "B-But you don't have to not be K-Kenma when you worry about me..."

His gaze softens even more, "I...I know, Shou." He averts his eyes as he continues walking, still not putting me down. "But if I don't harden myself...what if I don't do a good job taking care of you? I mean, I think I just revealed that you were in a relationship, and I...I messed that up horribly."

I blink. Honestly, outside of the volleyball team and a few of my friends outside of the team, I hadn't even considered the opinions of the other people in my school.

I gulp, and it feels like needles stabbing my throat with my extremely dry mouth as I whisper, "I couldn't care less. I have the team, and I have you, right?"

As if instinctively, he responds, "I'm always going to be here for you, Shou."

"Then that's all I need," I assure, snuggling up to him. At this point, I know he's not going to let me down until we get to the nurse, so I just sort of accept it. I can practically feel his knees buckle at that sentence, and I quietly giggle, even through the minor pain.

"You're really cute," I compliment.

"S-Shush," he denies, but I can see the tiny smile on his face. "Y-You're cute too, Sunshine."

Ah, crap. I can feel my skin burning up from that. I can't help but smile at his words, and even though there's a massive blush on my face and the pounding in my heart, I lean in and kiss his cheek.

"C'mooooon, at least be Kenma when you're my boyfriend!" I playfully complain, my voice at least human enough to not sound like you're playing a guitar with your teeth. "Why can't you be a cute cuddly caretaker instead of a meanie head?"

"Because if I was a cute and cuddly caretaker, I don't think I'd stop cuddling with you until you're better," he smoothly replies, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. I squeak in surprise at the compliment, and I realize that he was trying to get a reaction out of me because of the gentle laugh that comes from him.

"God, I hate how good you are at flirting," I admit.

"I'm not good at flirting; you're just really easy to tease," he shrugs, and I pout. "Are you planning on staying after to watch them practice?"

I nod. Of course I would! There's no way I'd miss a practice if I could go!

"After we go to the nurse, I'll carry you to the gym," he offers, and then it looks like he realizes something. "You know what I realized right now, Shou?"

I tilt my head quizzically, slightly confused what he could be talking about. "Huh?"

He smiles warmly at me, "I think our roles are reversed this time. Never thought I'd get to carry you like you carried me, but you do look really adorable right now in my arms."

Well, it's confirmed, everyone.

I think I have officially fallen completely in love with Kenma.

"H-Hey! You don't get to say that sort of stuff!"

"Why, Shou?"

"B-Because!"

"Because what? I thought I'm your boyfriend."

"Because it makes me embarrassed?"

"Aw."

"Hey!"

I mean...I guess this is the Kenma I know, at least a bit more of him.

He better keep being Kenma, or else being sick is gonna get a whole ton more boring.

~~~

"Where is he?!" Sugawara frantically panics, bouncing around the Karasuno gym, looking in every single nook and cranny for the shorter middle blocker. "He said he'd be coming to afternoon practice!"  
Asahi tries to calm down, timidly interrupting, "I'm sure they're going to be arriving soon. Besides, if they couldn't, they'd text us, right?"

"Sugawara, c'mon," Daichi puts a hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping all motion that wasn't extreme fidgeting. "Besides, apparently they should be arriving soon. Now that I think about it, did we tell Hinata and Kenma what was going on?"

"I don't think so," Tanaka groans as he stretches. The members of the Karasuno volleyball hadn't been in the gym for long, and this was one of their few weeks until the Spring Preliminary tournament.

They'd been preparing for it ever since before the training camp before Nekoma and Karasuno had schemed to get their respective members together, and they weren't going to let themselves fail again.

"Oy, is this what country air is like? Dang, it's so...putrid! Do they just live in manure the whole time?" The voice of Kuroo boomed, clearly intentionally loud enough to provoke the members of Karasuno. They could simply imagine the shit-eating grin that'd made it's way onto Kuroo's face by now, and they weren't pleased with what their imagination was supplying them with.

Yaku's familiar voice joined in the cacophony of teenage boys getting off the bus, "Oh, by the way, Kuroo, did you get a text from Kenma yet?"

"Nope," Kuroo sighs. "Which is weird. I thought he would've told me whether or not they got together by now, but maybe something happened."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"You don't...think Kenma got rejected, did he?" Lev whispered, a bit worried. While they could all see how smitten the two teenage boys were for each other, they couldn't help but entertain the idea that something might have went wrong for a few moments.

Tanaka blinks, hearing the conversation being had outside, "Do...do they not know?"

Nishinoya gleefully smirks, a mischievous glint manifesting in his eye, "Then we better not tell them. God, it'll be a surprise for them when Kenma and Hinata get here."

Asahi intrudes, clearly in discord with the scheme, "I-Isn't that a little rude?"

Surprisingly enough, Sawamura seemed in complete agreement with Tanaka and Nishinoya as his eyes seemed a little darker while whispering, "Sure. We just need to put up a little act. It'll be perfect payback."

"Payback for what?"

"Training camp, Sugawara. You have no idea how many years he took off of my life then."

"Oy, Country Bumpkins!" Kuroo's voice seems more confident while he whistles, opening the door to the gym. "What's with you and these weird surprises?!"

"Hey, don't blame us for Coach Nekomata not telling you," Ennoshita shrugs, a bit apathetic with the whole scheme, though with a little desire to provoke the team. "Oh, by the way, where's Kozume?"

A bit of a foul mood fell upon the Nekoma team, but Kuroo bluffs, "Oh, he's out right now. Said he had to do something with a friend. How about Chibi-Chan?"

"Oh, he's sick," Kageyama shrugs, the plan even getting through his thick skull. His statement still rang true, so he saw nothing wrong with it.

However, it still worked perfectly. Hinata being sick didn't seem to bode well for the plan Nekoma had come up with, and if Kenma wasn't responding, something might have happened to him. At least, that's how they saw it.

That is, until they heard some familiar voices quietly speaking outside after both teams were gathered. Well, more like one. One extremely familiar voice, while the other was still recognizable from its distinct positivity and kindness yet with the gravelly voice akin to that of a chain smoker.

"K-Kitty, y-you can't g-go in with me like this! W-what if they tease me?!" The pained voice of Hinata hisses, embarrassment ripe within his voice. The Karasuno team could only imagine the blushing countenance on their middle blocker, but they had no idea what to expect.

"Shou, I'm not having you walk with how fragile and sick you are. What if you collapse?" The familiar voice of Nekoma's setter succinctly informed.

"B-But w-what if -- Eep!" They heard Hinata squeak as the door was pushed open, revealing the sight of Hinata in Kenma's arms, the latter of which had kicked the door open.

"Oh. Wait a moment, why are you here, Kuroo?!" Kenma narrows his eyes as he whispers, feeling instantly cornered when the Nekoma team realizes that they're in the doorway.

"Oya oya? What's this?" He smirks. "Yaku, I gotta say. It worked perfectly." Despite the conflict between the two of them, there was unity in the fist bump of success that they shared.

"W-Wait, wait. Why is Nekoma here, Coach?" Hinata hoarsely whispers. "A-Are they here for a practice game?"

"Yep. And you're not gonna be allowed to play," Coach Ukai confirms.

"P-Please?" Hinata begs, and it's almost enough to melt the resolve of Coach Ukai and the heart of Kenma.

Unfortunately for the ginger, Kenma steels himself, gently denying, "Nope. I'm keeping you here."

"C'mon, Kitty!"

Kenma blushes, "Please don't use that nickname in front of Kuroo." That was more or less a whisper, but it was enough for the Nekoma team to hear it.

"Ooh, so you've already got a nickname?" Yamamoto provokes.

"C-Could we just get to the game?!"

"Hold on. Daichi, how long has this been going on?"

"Since a bit before yesterday. Apparently, they've already kissed."

Kenma widens his eyes for a moment as he realizes what's going on, "Kuroo, don't you dare take a picture!"

"Too late!"


	3. Accept My Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotion bubbles up within Kenma. Emotion that he suspects is fear, but not knowing what he's fearing makes it worse.
> 
> Hinata getting hurt might just be the thing that makes it boil over.

"Kenma, aren't you going to play?!" Lev cocks his head to the side, practically begging the second-year for some tosses. "This is a practice game between Nekoma and Karasuno, after all!"

"I can't right now, Lev. I need to take care of Shou," Kenma excuses himself, gently gripping Hinata's hand. He'd long given up on trying to get Kuroo to stop taking pictures of the two of them, and settled for stealing the phone and deleting the pictures then.

"T-Thank you, Kitty," Hinata mumbles, his head aching too badly to restrain calling Kenma by his nickname. "D-Do you have any medicine?"

Kenma nods, "Mhm. I got some headache medicine from Kageyama before they came over yesterday." He reaches into his bag, pulling out an entire bottle of Tylenol. Grabbing only what was necessary, he gently moved so that there wouldn't be any sudden movements to make Hinata puke.

"God," Hinata whispers to himself. "Why can't I play?"

"Because I won't let you," Kenma answers, kissing Hinata on the top of the head. "I promise I'll play as much as I can with you when you get better, though. Is that okay?" Hinata weakly smiles in return, only offering a thankful nod.

"You better," he accepts. "Thanks, by the way, for all this. I'm sorry that you have to deal with me being sick the first few days we're dating." He seems wistful in the moment, and Kenma softly smiles. 

"You have nothing to apologize for, Shou. Actually, I have an idea," Kenma thinks up.

"What is it?" Hinata slurs, yawning a little bit. It's clear the day's gotten to him; this was perhaps the only time either Nekoma or Karasuno had seen the ginger so quiet in their entire lives. He was still enough to be considered catatonic, and he was quiet enough that the only sounds coming from him were occasional groans of pain (which had instantly caused Kenma to nearly panic in worry) or soft breathing.

"If Yachi takes care of you, would you want to see me play?" Kenma offers, gesturing out at the court. "I know that you've always wanted me to have fun playing volleyball, so maybe this'll help you feel a little better."

Hinata visibly brightens at that, even though it doesn't seem like much.

"Please?" Hinata's coarse voice begs, and Kenma obliges. "I really wanna see you have fun."

"Okay, but if anything feels wrong or if you need anything, please tell Yachi to get me immediately, okay?"

"I promise," Hinata nods, gently reaching for the bottle of water that Kenma offered.

There was a moment of silence between the two, a soft smile shared. It'd been quite a while since Kenma'd been able to see Hinata's gentle features without worrying about anything, and to be frank, it felt quite nice to the videogame addict.

"I love you so much, Kitty."

"Love you too, Sunshine."

"Aww!" Kuroo teases. "Lev, I got that on record!"

Kenma blinks, tensing up, before sighing, "Kuroo, how many times do I have to ask you to stop taking pictures of me and Shou?"

"I don't think numbers go that high, Kenma."

Kenma, equal parts embarrassed and frustrated because of his friend, stuffs his hands in his pockets and walks over to the Nekoma bench to gather for the pre-game talk.

It was the same thing that they'd said all over again. All the talk that was going on, at least to Kenma, was what he'd heard every single game they'd had. Every single time. He couldn't really care less about what was being said right now.

Because right now, his mind was only on Hinata.

He found it tough to not worry about him, especially in the state he was in. He trusted Yachi. She was dependable, responsible, and extremely helpful. He knew she would be able to take care of him, probably to a greater extent than himself.

However, that didn't mean he couldn't worry.

"Kenma! C'mon!" Lev hops up and down, bouncing onto the court. "Just cause your boyfriend's on the team doesn't mean that you can give him the win!"

In response, Kenma mutters, "I can't afford to hold back on them. They're strong, especially now that Tsukishima learned how to block. Wonder who taught him how to do that."

"Hey, are you mocking me?" Kuroo smirks, slinging an arm around Kenma's shoulder, who tenses at the touch. "Aw, can't I hug my best friend once in a while?"

"Kuroo, you know how much I don't like hugs," Kenma sighs, gently taking Kuroo's arm off of him. "Especially surprise ones. It's not that I don't like you."

"But you let Chibi-Chan do it all the time."

"That's different."

"Sure it is."

As the conversation between the two childhood friends ends, at least in Kenma's eyes, the teams take their respective players on the court with, of course, Shimada from the Karasuno Neighborhood Association taking place as the referee.

"Heads is Karasuno, Tails is Nekoma."

As the coin is tossed up into the air, both teams are desperately hoping to be able to choose. Karasuno to serve due to Yamaguchi being an unpredictable factor at times, and Nekoma to receive simply because getting a service ace without a powerful spiker would prove difficult with Nishinoya on the court.

"So, got a question," Lev interrupts while the captains make idle small talk during the coin flip. "Why didn't you just opt out? You coulda used Hinata as an excuse, you know."

"..."

"Oh, is someone embarrassed?" Lev teases, before shivers are sent down his spine by the familiar glare of Kenma. He'd been practically the only one to be on the receiving end of Kenma's wrath and annoyance, and in his words, it felt worse than when Yaku or Yamamoto got angry.

"It's not that," Kenma denies. "And I know I could've used him to excuse myself."

"Then what is it?"

"Lev, stop prying. If he doesn't want to tell you, I'll make you stop," Yamamoto threatens. "Right now, it's game time. You better be ready."

The enmity that Lev felt from both Kenma and Yamamoto, however, was extremely amusing to Hinata.

In all honesty, there was another reason Kenma felt so annoyed. There had been this pestering feeling behind him ever since he had entered the gym, and he didn't like it.

~~~

"Yachi," I whisper, lying down on the ground. I'd asked for an ice pack to help me cool down, and this was just the easiest for me.

"Yeah, Hinata?" She asks, slightly caught off guard. It's like she's been thinking up every scenario and is trying to account for every single one of them without panicking.

"C-Could you ask Kenma to not hold back just cause he's worrying about me?" I cough a little bit, trying to tilt my head just enough to see the court. "I want to make sure that the game's played well..."

"O-Okay," she nods, getting up and walking over to the Nekoma team's bench.

I hear some aggressive footsteps coming up to me, and I already know it's Kageyama. There's nobody who has such a weird pattern. I mean, who takes steps without a solid rhythm? It's like he takes two steps quickly, seven steps at a snail's pace, then the next three are normal.

"Oy, dumbass." Yep. That's definitely Kageyama. "We're gonna get this win, so you better be watching when we get the final point."

"I will," I weakly nod. "C-Could you do a favor for me? A-Actually, two?"

"What is it?" I hear him plop down next to me, the thud against the gym floor a little too loud for me. "I swear, if it's something stupid, I'm gonna beat you up."

I giggle a little at that, "Nah, it's something serious. Could you get me a cough drop?" He nods, holding out a hand to Sugawara. I know that Sugawara always had at least five packs of them in his bag in case any of us needed it, and it was perfect right now. I used to be confused about it, but right now, I'm super grateful.

"And what else?" Kageyama groans as he gets up, grabbing the cough drop. I always found it weird how Sugawara could practically always hear us.

"Could you...provoke Kenma? I-I don't want you to be mean to him, b-but just enough to get him focused on the game and not me," I gulp. The cough drop is starting to work wonders, honestly, cause he just dropped it into my mouth.

"I'll ask Tsukishima to do that for me. He's better at getting people angry," Kageyama sighs. "Oy, salty ass!"

"You talking about me?" Tsukishima narrows his eyes.

"Hinata wants you to annoy Kenma!" Kageyama calls out. Unfortunately, he has...no idea that he was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the entire gym.

Including Nekoma.

Including Kenma.

"H-Hey, I didn't say that!" I hiss, quickly sitting up only to almost puke and force myself back down while gagging.

"Ah, young love," Kuroo snickers, and I blush a little bit. Kenma pokes him in the side for that, and I feel a little grateful. I notice his shoulders tense up a little bit. That's not good.

Kenma likes to bottle up his emotions until he booms, I think. I saw it when he got annoyed with Kuroo and especially with Lev.

"But I thought you wanted me to provoke him?"

"I-I didn't mean you should tell it to the entire gym!" I whisper, coughing a little bit. Maybe the cough drop didn't work, after all.

After a few more minutes, where I had to explain what I meant to Tsukishima (who I'm glad actually listened), the game actually did end up starting. This time, I sit up much, much slower with the help of Yachi, who's treating me like some piece of glass that'll literally break if she moves too fast.

"Nice serve," I instinctively utter, watching Asahi serve it to the other side of the net. I blink, realizing how slow their play style is. It's different when we played against them last, but they move so...slowly. It's nothing like our team.

It's like they're taking their time with every step...every move.

Well, except Lev. He's still running around like crazy.

But looking at them? I didn't expect Yamamoto to be so calm on the court. It's like Nishinoya-Senpai, almost. I didn't expect Kuroo to be so observant, and I didn't expect Yaku to be so demanding.

Well, maybe that's cause I don't know him that well.

Kenma? He's playing like he always does. He's quiet. He's constantly staring at our team, watching their every move, and every single time they spike, I can tell he makes a mental note of it.

But this time, his quiet isn't reflective. It's restraint.

It's scary.

His eyes are narrow, and he seems less focused.

I've seen it from Kageyama before, but not Kenma.

And I don't like it.

"Lev, how are your passes worse than Shou? All of your basics are practically worse than his, too."

Well, maybe it's just Lev.

"Hey, just cause he's your boyfriend doesn't mean I'm worse than him!" Lev denies, crossing his arms. I pout a little bit, knowing that Kenma's still using me as a baseline for what is bad and what's not.

I'd like to think I've gotten a lot better since I last played against him.

Yamamoto slings an arm around his shoulder, "Nah, you just suck, Lev."

God, I wanna play _so bad._

"Well, either way, it's your turn to serve," Kenma sighs. "Not like it's going to make it over the net."

"Hey! I'm going to prove it to you!"

Why can't our team be like that right now? Why is Kageyama so quiet? Why is Tanaka not being loud? Why is Tsukishima...well, I guess that's just Tsukishima. There's nothing that changed then.

"Oh, is the King getting annoyed that his dumps aren't working on Nekoma?"

"What'd you say, asshole?!"

"Tsukishima, you shouldn't say that..."

"Yamaguchi, quiet."

"Gomen, Tsukki."

Well...never mind. With all the times that I see it happen, it's like nothing's going on right now. But at the same time, this stuff happens all the time. Even when Tanaka threatens Tsukishima, it still feels normal.

Because this team is probably where I feel at home.

Well, one of two places.

It's probably obvious right now where the second one is.

"Kageyama," I call out, my voice feeling like three cogs that are messed up. "Play." I can't even gather the energy to yell, nor can I even raise my hands to my mouth to make me louder. It sucks, being this tired.

I yawn a little bit, my head still facing the volleyball court. It almost feels like I'm falling. Like I'm just on the edge and am so close but there's something stopping me, like a guard rail.

Watching the game, I'm fully focused on how the ball's moving. It's so fast at times, but so slow. There's barely any spin on it when Nishinoya receives, and it's weird. I never noticed how well he can receive it at times.

I yawn a little bit, reaching for a bottle of water.

It isn't until I hear Kenma call out, "Shouyou!" in the most panicked tone I'd ever heard him use that I realize that something's gone wrong in the moments I wasn't paying attention.

And it isn't until I turn around that I realize what was wrong. It was a volleyball.

Heading directly for my face.

This was that bad feeling earlier coming true.

This was gonna hurt.

~~~

"Shouyou!" I yell, seeing the ball head straight for him. I've never had my voice go that loud, and right now, I can't even pay attention to it. Shit, I messed up. It's my fault. Fuck. This is on me, isn't it? He's gonna blame me, and he's right to do so.

Cause this is on me for not paying attention, isn't it?

Fuck. I have not sworn so much in my life and I'm not even saying them out loud.

Instantly, my mind moves from the game over to him and I realize how much of an absolute asshole I must have seemed to Shouyou, thinking that all that was on his mind was volleyball. Damn it, why?

I grit my teeth, sprinting over to him. I can't even remember the last time I fully sprinted or pushed myself further than I ever wanted to. This time, I want to. I need to. I have to.

Shit, I'm sorry, Shou!

I take a stop in front of him, instantly kneeling down to him. He'd fallen off the bench and hadn't moved since then, and I gulp, my throat instantly feeling dry. I gasp, a bit taken aback.

He's unconscious. Knocked out.

My hands tremble.

My knees buckle.

My arms feel numb.

My breathing becomes heavy. Frantic. Erratic.

"Kenma!" I hear Kuroo call out to me, instantly hoisting me up. My vision is blurry, and it's only now that I'm realizing that tears have started spilling over.

I'm standing now, and my hands keep shaking. Looking at Shouyou...he's unconscious...the red mark on his face clear, and all I can look at right now.

"Are you going to do something?" He asks calmly, and responsibly. It's something that's rare, but I've heard it before: Kuroo being completely serious. There's not an iota of a witty remark, something to provoke anyone, nothing.

And I appreciate it, honestly.

I shake my head, my tone weak, "I...can't do it right now. I don't think I could handle myself...I messed up, Kuroo."

"You didn't mess up, Kenma. You were doing what you thought was right," he assures me, and my shoulders tense. Then I messed up even more. I sniffle and hiccup, and I know I shouldn't because I know Shou's in more pain than me right now, but I can't help it.

Because I know I messed up.

"Then why is he hurt right now?!" I snap, tilting my head back up to glare at him, though I can't bring myself to have anger in my eyes...I just feel...regret. Sadness. Remorse.

"Not because of you. You've been here, taking care of him," he insists. "You know what, let's go outside. I trust Karasuno to help him get back to consciousness."

"Thanks," I mutter. I realize how loud I was, and the stares of sympathy I was receiving from some people. And especially the gulp of fear from Lev, who had accidentally spiked the ball towards Hinata.

I'm not mad at him. I want to feel some sort of enmity or animosity towards him, but I can't gather the energy to, honestly.

As the two of us walk outside, we plop down onto the wood that comes upon the gym.

"Look, Kuroo," I sigh, sniffling a little bit. "I...I'm worried. What if I fucked up? What if I...just didn't do right?"

He quirks an eyebrow, "You didn't mess up, is the thing. I know you probably won't listen cause you can get stubborn sometimes, but...you didn't mess up. Just cause it's one mistake doesn't mean the whole world's over."

He's blunt when it comes to these situations. I've seen it happen with Lev a few times, but not to the point where he was crying before Kuroo became serious. That's one of the things that's surprisingly cool about him.

"Kuroo, you don't get it. I-I've been messing up all day! I-I messed up letting him get sick, I'm not good at taking care of him, I accidentally outed him to his entire class, and now this happens. What am I supposed to do?" I lean back, falling on my back. My head thuds against the wood, but I can't give a damn right now.

"Help him? You've been helping him all day. Who knows what would've happened if you didn't watch him. You know how irresponsible he is. He probably would've forced himself onto the court if it wasn't for you."

"And he wouldn't have gotten sick if it wasn't for me."

"Are you even gonna change your mind?" He shrewdly smirks, and I roll my eyes. I may have been emotional, and while I'm still struggling to hold back tears, it's not like my points don't stand anymore.

"Nope."

After a few seconds pass, I dryly say, "You gonna say something?"

God, I'm horrible at expressing actual emotions.

"You're an ass, you know."

I blink.

"And what brought that up?" I ask, dryly. It caught me off guard enough that my tears completely stop flowing, but my body still feels super tired.

"You don't see how grateful he is? Who do you think he wants to see most?" He groans, stretching before standing up to look at the sun. "Isn't the whole thing about a relationship like being there with each other through the good and bad or somethin'? I dunno, it's something I just read from a book." He shrugs, though his point gets across.

"That's not it," I deny; it really isn't. "What if I'm not suited to be his boyfriend?"

I guess that's just sort of...what I've been concerned about all day. Maybe that's the weird feeling that's been picking at me. Who knows.

"Who else?"

"I dunno, Kageyama?" I shrug, propping myself on my elbows. "He knows Hinata well enough."

"That's bull and you know it."

He's right. I couldn't imagine Kageyama with anyone but milk or a volleyball.

Honestly, I don't know anyone else who'd really fit with Hinata. Kageyama's more like a brother to him, Yachi, a teacher, and everyone else as like a role model.

Except Lev, I guess. There's no way anyone could ever look up to him.

Still, how do I qualify?

"You know," he makes some idle talk in my silence as I think. "Lev thought we were dating?"

I blink. Us? No. Kuroo's more like an older brother to me. I couldn't imagine being with him. It's sort of ew. Not cause it's a boy, obviously. But cause he's Kuroo.

"Of course Lev would be the one to say it," I say, no emotion attached. "As if. I can barely put up with you normally."

"Hey. Keep that up and I might start to think you might not like me," Kuroo smirks; he'd known me long enough to get what I'm going for.

"Wow, you're finally starting to see it," I whisper, a gentle smirk on my face. We'd had enough banter to know what we're getting at.

I gulp. Who would I even fit with, anyways? Nobody from my team, and I suck at making friends.

I'm really glad I'm with Shou. I like to think he fits me well and I fit him well. I hope. Like a sort of soulmate kind of thing, but it's just us working well together.

I sigh, "Ah, screw it. Come over here."

He blinks, "Huh?"

"You're getting a hug. One time only," I shrug. It's the least I can do, especially considering how emotionally constipated I could be at times. "Tell Lev about this, and I'll kill you."

He rolls his eyes, "Sure you will. Not gonna happen, either way."

"Wow, you won't even take it?" I offer again, dryly. "Last chance."

"Save it for Hinata. Or, if I remember correctly, Kageyama told me that he heard you call him 'Sunshine,' didn't you?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, his trademark snarky-ass smirk back on his face.

"Fine, have it your way," I roll my eyes, a light blush on my face. "Did Kageyama really tell you that?"

"Nah," he shakes his head. "But now you just did."

"How'd you know?" I ask, getting up. I knew I was going to have to confront Shou eventually, and at this rate, I was going to do it right about now.

"C'mon, Kenma. What else were you gonna call him?"

Honestly, that makes a bit of sense.

"Thanks, by the way," I whisper, wiping my eyes a bit.

"Don't mention it."

"Why are you being so nice, anyways?"

"Well, I've just always been a nice person," he answers.

...

"Hey, you don't have to give me that sort of look."

~~~

"Sugawara, is he awake yet?"

"Not sure...he hasn't really done much other than groan and ask for Kenma."

Wait, what? When did I do that?

Wait, where am I?

"I'm so sorry, Kenma, for accidentally hurting Hinata!"

Lev? When did he hurt me?

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to spike it at him."

Uhh...did he knock me out with a spike?

Actually, my cheek does kind of hurt.

Is that why?

"Kenma." I hear Kuroo. Why's he so serious? It's not like I died or anything.

"Hm?"

"Do you think you'll be able to stay composed in there?" Composed? What happened? Did I do something wrong?

No, did I hurt Kenma?

The thought of that hurts to think about. I'd do anything to make him feel better.

Dang it, I wanna ask him out on a date soon.

"..." It's a tiny whisper, to the point where I can barely hear it.

"Huh?"

Well, I guess they can't understand, either.

"I think I might break down when I see him...could you...make sure nobody comes to try listening in on us?"

"Sure. If you need anything, just text me."

Heck.

I don't think I could stand Kenma crying. I think I'd cry too.

I whisper quietly so I don't make Sugawara jump, "Can you ask Kenma to come in? I'm awake now." My voice doesn't feel like I'm being choked, so that's better. I still feel both super warm and cold though at the same time.

"U-Uh, okay, Hinata," Sugawara stutters, still a bit surprised I'm up. "Do you want me to help you up?"

I gently nod. I reach out for his arm and he pulls me, slowly, up to the point where I'm against the wall, the corner part where you can't exactly fall to one side since you're leaning on the corner. They'd taken me to a classroom where the nearest first-aid kit was. There was one in the gym, but I'd practically used it all up with how much I get hit in the head when I'm not sick.

"I'll leave you two alone for now," Sugawara caringly whispers, walking out of the room and lets Kenma walk in.

I hear Kenma whisper a bit, before he breathes a bit heavier as he approaches me. He hesitantly reaches out, as if I'm not even reality, and gently cups my cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Shou."

I blink. What for? There's nothing to be sorry for!

"Uh...Kenma?"

He makes eye contact with me, regret in his eyes. He's trying to keep a straight face, but is failing really poorly. I gulp, the air tense around us.

"I'm sorry, Shou. For messing up."

I blink again. He didn't mess anything up, though.

"Uh, Kitty? Is something wrong?" I ask, a bit concerned. I move a bit out of my corner, kneeling a little bit so I can hug him. I pull him close, inhaling his scent. He tenses up, and I hear a tiny whimper.

My eyes widen.

"I...I messed up today, Shou. I wasn't paying attention to what you wanted, I didn't take care of you well enough, and I let you get hurt. I'm so sorry..." he whimpers, shaking a little bit. I gulp, seeing a few tears roll down his cheeks. I find myself crying too, and it hurts.

Not just because he's crying.

But because he thinks he messed up.

He didn't.

"K-Kenma," I whisper. "You didn't do anything wrong." I hug him tighter, with all of my strength, and he hides his face in my shoulder.

"But I did, is the problem, Shou, and I'm sorry..." he whispers again, his arms going a little weak. "I haven't been a good boyfriend to you, and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for messing up. I'm sorry for just...a lot, Shou, and I hope I can make it up to you."

I gulp.

"K-Kenma Kozume," I gently assure, using his full name; I'm not used to it, but it sounds nice. "You haven't messed up at all. I love you, and you've been so amazing to me the last few days that I don't know what I'd do without you right now."

I look into his eyes, gently tilting his head up after lightly pulling away, "I love you, Kenma, and nothing's going to change that."

"Shou, why won't you accept my apology?!" He sniffles, his tone becoming a bit more frantic.

I know I'm sick.

I know I shouldn't.

I know that he might be caught off guard.

Heck, I even know I might be risking a bit of his health.

But I also know one thing.

I care about him way more than what my mind will let me make a good decision.

I pull him close and gently press a kiss to his lips to shut his rambling up.

I gently smile at him, "Because you shouldn't apologize. End of story. If you don't accept it, I'll kiss you until you do."

He blushes a little bit, before pouting a little bit, "That's such a Shouyou thing to say."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ah, screw it. When we get home, I demand you cuddle me."

"That's not a very Kenma thing to say."

"I don't care."

By the upturn on the ends of his lips?

I'd say he does care.

Plus, it seems like he's brightening up a bit. A happy Kenma makes a happy me, and if I can make it so he isn't crying anymore, and he seems to be smiling and comfy, then that's all I can ever ask for.

I gently wipe some of his tears away, and even though I'm not feeling 100% right now, I gently kiss him on the forehead.

I'm glad I can make him happy.

And I'm also glad he feels that I make him happiest.

"I'm still sorry, Sunshine."

"Hey!"

And there's another kiss.

Even if I can tell that he's still a bit down...actually, scratch that. He's still down. Period.

Even if I can tell that he's still down, and that it's still on his mind, I'm going to make it go away.

By love and kisses if I have to.

"So, if I keep saying sorry, will you keep kissing me?"

"Yep!"


	4. Rest (?) And Recovery

"Kenmaaaa! Why can't I go to school? My voice is all better!"

I sweetly smile, so sweet he knows it's supposed to have playful maliciousness, "Because your teammates said you aren't allowed to come back until you're better. Don't you remember?"

Look, I know I messed up. But Shou doesn't seem to think I did. Logically speaking, that means that it probably was. Emotionally speaking, it meant it probably was.

Irrationally thinking, it probably meant it wasn't and that I somehow tricked him.

Luckily, at least I know that those were irrational thoughts. Right?

"But that doesn't mean I can't go! I can play volleyball now!" He bounces around the walls, and even though I know it might get me hurt, I force myself to hold his hand. It's probably my one trick that I have that works better than what Karasuno has to keep him under control. Either that or kissing him on the cheek. Oddly enough, kissing him on the cheek works better to get him flustered than kissing him on the lips.

"No, you can't," I quietly whisper. "What if you get hurt again? I can't let that happen again."

"Are you still on that? I told you, it's okaaaay," he drawls.

"And I understand that you think so...I'm sorry for letting my emotions burst out like that, too," I blink, not even having that come to mind. I was just reminding him.

Yeah, he can barely keep the pout on his face before breaking out into a toothy grin, "See? I'm all better and healthy!"

"No, you aren't, Shou."

"Then what do I dooooo?" He asks.

You see, it was about 5 A.M. Karasuno starts somewhat early, but nowhere near this time of day. In fact, I'm pretty surprised I'm even awake myself. Unless I've got a new game with me, I always just sleep in for way longer than what's probably recommended.

"I dunno. Why'd you wake up this early?" I shrug. "If you want, we can play a game on my phone or something, or just do whatever you want. Just make sure you don't move around too much."

Honestly, he did look to be getting better. He was bouncing around, smiling, and his voice was just as it should be (which, I'll admit, makes my heart pound more often than not, as does his smile).

"'I dunno. My brain just goes shwah! And poof! And I'm awake!"

It's just best to be sure for one more day. Tomorrow, I'll probably stop watching over him. Then I can spend the rest of my spring break just with Shou and probably doing whatever he wants. I'm not really picky with what we do, I guess.

"Kenmaaaaaa~" He purrs; weird, I thought I was supposed to be the kitten here. "Can we play volleyball together?"

I blink, "Uh." I physically cannot create a response to that. It's not that I can't refuse or something emotional triggered within me.

It's more of a shock of how quickly he forgets something. Or maybe he's just way too persistent. Even though he knows I'm not gonna agree.

"No."

"C'mooooon~" He shakes my arm, trying to drag me out of the closet, since I was planning to just wear one of his hoodies.

"Nope."

"I'll give you a kiss!"

I blink, hesitating a little bit, "'No."

"Two kisses!"

"..."

"Is that a yes?"

"No."

"Hey! You meanie!" He pouts again, snaking his arms around me. I lightly tense. I'm still not completely used to the sudden contact, but I'm trying to adapt a little more. I couldn't even imagine being hugged by someone else suddenly and reacting in a way that isn't instantly trying to snake out of there. Not even Kuroo. Actually, especially not him. He wouldn't let me live it down, normally. I'm still surprised he did.

"What do I have to do to get you to set for me?"

I blink, "Nothing. Because I'm not letting you play volleyball until tomorrow."

"But I haven't played volleyball for like three days!" He complains dramatically, gently pulling me closer. "I'm gonna diiiiiieeee!"

"No, you won't," I gently lean into his arms. "Because that'd make me sad."

"W-What? Hey!" I smirk a little bit at his outburst. "Don't try to pull that on me!" There's an embarrassed blush on his face, and I smile gently to expound on my point.

"And if I do?" I ask, raising an eyebrow as I slink my way into the hoodie that I'd found from the closet. It's surprisingly warm. "What are you gonna do about it?"

I feel a devious smirk on his face, and I shiver just from the mischievous mood that set into the atmosphere. He pulls me in even closer, to the point where my back is fully against him, and I gulp.

He whispers, "What if I tickle you? Then will you let me play volleyball?"

///

You know, I've never regretted accepting a hug so much before.

Ever.

"That...was dirty," I pant, getting my breath back as Shou snuggles up to me. "And that's evil, just cuddling up to me after that."

"Sooooo....will you let me play volleyball now?" He smiles innocently, yet his eyes betray that innocence. He gently worms his arm to my other side, circling his finger on my left oblique.

"You know, Shou," I breathlessly whisper. "I thought you were an angel. Jesus Christ, you're like an incubus but without the sexual part."

It's a poor analogy, but right now, my mind's too muddled to formulate a superior comparison.

That was not a tickle match.

That was a tickle assault.

"Well, I learned something through that," he gently places his lips to my cheek and I light up like a Christmas light. "First, that your laugh is super adorable..."

"I-It's not," I deny, my heart pounding. "Your laugh is pretty cute, on the other hand."

He steamrolls over my attempt to turn the tables, "And I also learned that your lower back is really, really ticklish."

"U-Uh," my brain short-circuits. "You're not gonna tell this to anyone, right? And you're not gonna use this against me in tickle matches?"

"So you're planning to have more tickle matches with me and lose? Do you like getting tickled?" He counters, an extremely adorable smile manifest on his face. "Cause if so, I don't see why I can't continue if you won't let me play volleyball."'

"I'd rather get tickled than let you play while you're still sick. I'm here to help you get better, Sunshine," I gently hug him back. "And I trust you enough to not tickle me when I don't try to provoke you."

A few moments of silence pass before he speaks again, "Well, I could just text Kuroo right now...I doubt you'd tell him about this yourself, so maybe I should just have him be a little bit smarter."

I gently move my arm past him, to snatch his phone away, "Yeah, no. You're not telling Kuroo, and you're still not playing volleyball."

"Then another tickle match is in place, right?"

"Hey, Shou?" I interrupt, causing him to tilt his head at the sudden interference of his snake-like attempts.

"Yeah, Kitty?"

"You realize that I'm probably stronger than you right now since you're sick, right? Can I tickle you?"

"H-Hey! I'm sick! That's cheating!"

"So is trying to blackmail me."

"B-But that's not even blackmail on a serious scale!"

"I love you so much, Shou," I whisper into his ear to shock him, plant a kiss on his cheek, and you know...

"But I'm not afraid to play dirty either."

~~~

"And you call me a cheater," I mumble under my breath, pinned beneath him at the moment. Even though I let him wriggle and writhe when I tickled him, he completely stopped me from resisting every so often by kissing me on the cheek or just stopping to stare at me and smile warmly, which he knows makes me Gwah and Fwoosh in my mind and my chest!

"Would be a real shame if I were to tell Kageyama about your weak spots being your neck and your upper back, right? He's basically your older brother," Kenma shrugs. "But if you don't tell Kuroo, I won't tell Kageyama. Deal?"

I pout.

"Deal," I begrudgingly accept, gently pushing him off of me. "You're still a cheater, you know. Kissing me isn't in the rules!"

"Who said so?"

"Me!"

"Sure you did, Shou," Kenma rolls his eyes, amused, as he lies down next to me. "We should eat breakfast soon, right?"

"Yeah," I eventually nod, my saltiness still sticking with me for the moment. "Do you just wanna order like pickup or something?"

"Does that mean I have to call?" He shyly asks, and I blink. "I don't like talking on the phone...it's tough enough to do in person when it's not you or Kuroo...is it fine if you call?"

I realize how shy he still is around other people, and I gently squeeze his hand, "Sure. Uh...sorry for not thinking about it. I guess I just got used to talking to you so much."

"It's fine," he gently smiles. "Plus, if we ever go out, you'll be the one to order, right?" He boops my nose to prove a point, but I can't really tell what that point is.

"Why would I be the one to do it?" I urge him to elaborate.

"Cause you love me."

I blink, "True. What do you want?"

"Uh...pizza, I guess? I don't really know what I wanna eat right now."

"What do you like to eat, anyways?" I'm sort of asking him to know what to order, but also so I can ask him out later.

"Anything's fine," he shrugs, getting off of the bed. "What do you want, Sunshine?"

I flush a little bit, clinging a bit close to him, "You."

He turns red, pretty much as red as Nekoma's jacket, and playfully punches me, "I mean for food, dumbass."

"You sound like Kageyama," I observe, a playful smile on my face as I get up to follow him out of my room.

"Ew. That's the worst insult I've ever had, since he does worse in school than you." There's still a clear blush on his face, and hugging him closer, I can tell that his heart's still pounding really quickly. I like that I can do that to him. It makes me happy that I can make him feel loved.

"Hey! I thought you loved me!" I retort, embarrassment clear on my face. "My grades aren't that bad!"

"1 out of 80."

"That was one time! And Kageyama got 0, so I didn't even do that bad!"

"That's 1.25%, Shou," he sighs, walking down the stairs. "So, what are you gonna order?"

"Anything's good!" I chirp, hopping down the stairs with him. "I'll order pizza! What toppings do you like?"

"Anchovies."

I stop dead in my tracks, practically skidding. I think I might have made marks, and I think I lost my appetite for the next three days from that.

"Kitty, I know cats like fish...but anchovies on pizza...is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. It's like mint ice cream!"

"I don't actually like anchovies," Kenma rolls his eyes with an amused expression. "I'm fine with anything. However, mint ice cream? It's my favorite flavor. After that, rocky road."

"How? Mint ice cream is literally just...ew!" I gag.

"Aren't you going to call for delivery now?"

"Fine..." I sulk, as he moves into the kitchen. "What are you getting?"

"Medicine for you."

"Not the Dayquil!" I gasp, quickly heading away so he doesn't give it to me. Unfortunately, Kageyama didn't buy me the capsule stuff so I have to drink it.

Dayquil is disgusting.

"Hey, Shou? If I let you play volleyball for until the pizza gets here, will you drink the medicine?"

Dang it. He got me.

"I'll drink it after we play."

"Nope. Dayquil or I'm not setting to you." There's no shaking in his voice, and I know he's made up his mind.

He's the one with the leverage right now, and it sucks.

~~~

"Hey, Shou?" I hear Kenma ask absentmindedly, setting to me once again. "You remember how you said you'd get me to enjoy volleyball?"

I nod, not really getting where he's going with this.

"I still don't really enjoy volleyball as a whole...but I like playing volleyball like this with you. Maybe when we play again, I'll enjoy it a bit more," he ponders out loud, a bit to himself and a bit to me.

Right now, I'd like to burst out in joy, to jump up and bounce and hug him tightly. I feel all of these emotions cycling through me, equally glad, ecstatic, and content with what he says. Even if he isn't going to go into volleyball as a job, I'm glad he's starting to enjoy it a little more.

"That's...wonderful, Kitty," I breathlessly whisper, the emotion getting through to him like that. That's one of the things I learned about Kenma. He wasn't the type of person who showed affection like I did. He carried me and sometimes kissed me on the cheek, but otherwise, he liked to show his affection a bit more subtly.

He liked to show his emotions when we cuddled in private, when he talked to me, when he joked with me, and what I like most, when he hugs me. He gives the best hugs. Even better than Kageyama. And even though Kageyama hates showing emotion, he also likes hugs. We tease him about it pretty often.

"Kageyama likes hugs?" Kenma asks, somewhat in disbelief.

Whoops. I guess I said that out loud.

I gently nod.

"Can I tell Kuroo?"

I nod again, a little more excited.

"Thanks, Shou," he nods with a gentle smile on his face, brushing a little bit of hair out of his face. "I guess it's thanks to you that I've thought about volleyball."

I tilt my head a little bit, and stop moving before he sets again, "Whatcha mean?"

He shrugs, "I dunno. I just think you being so passionate about volleyball sort of affected me. Inspired me, sort of. Not just in volleyball, but in work ethic in general. But I'm not gonna copy your studying ethic. I'd rather copy Kuroo."

"Kuroo? Why him?" I ask, reserving the subtle jab at me for later.

Wait, reserving? I guess the vocabulary that Yachi, Kageyama and I work on is actually paying off.

Anyways, Kenma answers, "He's smarter than he looks. Book smart. He's taking college prep courses. I think Yaku is too, but Kuroo's like super smart."

"Could he teach me?"

"I don't think he'd have the patience for you to keep bouncing around if I'm not there, so no. I guess it's either Yachi or me who'll teach you."

"What if you're with me?"

"Shou, honestly, I don't think I could handle being around both you and Kuroo. You'd give him the idea to tickle me or something. But back to my point.

"I...I love you, Shou. I don't think I can ever say it enough to really get it across as much as I do," he shyly admits, a blush already creeping up on him as he hides his hands in his pockets; they're definitely fidgeting and clammy in there, and he's just so adorable. "And I'm really glad in volleyball. I don't think I would've met you if I did. And I know I suck at showing affection super well without it being awkward--"

"Hey! You're better than me!" I deny, holding a finger up. "You're like super good at flirting and hugging and making my heart go blam!"

"Well, I'm not the best at cuddling or kissing or showing physical affection other than occasional hugs and when we lie down."

"But you're awesome enough to make me super happy!" I hug him closely, knocking the volleyball out of his hands so I can pull him closer. "Plus, when the pizza comes, I can't wait because it means I get to eat with you!"

He has a gentle smile on his lips, quietly whispering, "I'm glad I get to eat with you too, Shou."

Yep.

I don't think I would ever trade this for the world.

~~~

"Gotta say, Shou. I didn't think you'd be the type of person who'd use a fork and knife to eat. I thought you'd just stuff it in your face all the time," I shrug, after swallowing an unusually cheesy bite of pizza. How much cheese did he get on this?

Well, anyways, it must have been a ton, because the pizza didn't even arrive until after Hinata showered. Speaking of, how does someone take more than ten minutes to shower? Everyone says that they spend time in there to think, but what about just...every other minute of the day? Or does overthinking just not exist then?

Meh. I guess it doesn't really matter too much. At least, not right now.

"I mean, my sister doesn't like it when I eat pizza like that cause I get messy!" He chirps, and I smile at it. He's a really caring sibling. Maybe that's why he can cook so well. He could probably teach me how to cook eventually.

He's really awesome.

"Shou, could you come over here real quick?" I ask, prompting him to scooch closer to me. He'd insisted we watch videogame stuff on the T.V while we eat and then cuddled, which I gratefully accepted. Even though the channel he didn't pull up is something I'd normally watch, I'm glad he's so considerate towards me.

To be fair, I did protest for a few moments, but he wouldn't budge. I don't know why I gave in since I'm still a bit stronger than him, but I saw no harm in listening to what he wanted to do.

And a side note: I've said this a lot, but I'm not too good with physical touch, but cuddling's a sort of different story. Hell, even when Kuroo sleeps over every now and then, I usually fall asleep on his stomach while playing videogames. Not really cuddling, per se, but it is more physical touch than normal. But yeah. I like cuddling a little bit.

And I especially like it with Shou. Not just cause I like him, but he's really warm and fluffy and I fit really well into his arms. It's comfy.

Anyways, what was I saying?

Oh, yeah.

As he scoots over next to me, I gently wipe a bit of sauce off of his cheek, "Are you sure you aren't messy, Shou?"

"Oh, this?" He licks my finger, which still has the sauce on it, and smiles brightly. "It's nothing compared to if I ate without a fork and knife!"

My heart goes blazing, practically skyrocketing up to a pace that's probably unhealthy.

I gulped.

Is this what being a teenage boy with a partner who does unintentionally attractive things is like?

God, I hate it.

"Kenma, are you okay?" Shou asks, a little bit concerned. "You're super red."

I hide my face in my hoodie, and right before I do, I notice that very familiar glint in Shou's eyes. He usually had that glint when he was planning on doing something, and sometimes when we hung out together, that glint appeared more than once.

"Did I make you blush?" He suggests, and I think I somehow go more red. He uses a tone that isn't suggestive in the slightest, but my brain just sort of misfunctions and I stutter a lot.

I feel him gently move one of my arms away, but not the second one. Only one of my eyes is actually seeing him, and I can't stop watching because of how curious I am.

"You're really cute, Kitty."

"N-No -- Eep!" I squeak very quietly, seeing him gently kiss my knuckles. "I-I thought you were sick!"

"I seem to be doing fine now, and you..." he gently boops me. "Are extremely cute. Did you hear how adorable that was?"

Heck.

~~~

"Good morning, Shou," Kenma's quiet voice slowly reaches my ears, and I realize something very, very quickly.

He's awake before me.

"Kenma?" I yawn, gently stretching my left arm. I couldn't really stretch my right arm since we were cuddling and I wrapped my arms around him.

It was numb.

Dang it.

"Yeah, Sunshine?" I hear him ask in return, and his voice is fully awake. There's no grogginess or tiredness.

"What time is it?"

"Mmm..." I hear some buttons being pressed. "About 5 A.M. Why?"

"Why are you up so early?" I ask, gently pulling him closer to me. He's really warm and it's really nice to wake up to.

Silence.

"Uh...Kitty? Did you say something?"

I hear a few more buttons being pressed.

I blink.

"Kenma...did you sleep?"

Silence.

"No..." he whispers. "Sorry, Shou. I got a new game and I've been dying to play it and I thought it would be best to play while we were cuddling and I got a bit carried away."

I smile gently, "It's fine, Kitty. We can stay home today, right?"

"Right. Can I sleep then?"

"Sure. Can I get a kiss?"

"Mmm..."'

"Please?" I plead, and I can tell that even though he isn't looking, he's being affected by the puppy eyes. I see him press a few more buttons, until he pauses, and turns around to look at me.

"I love you, Shou."

"I love you too, Kenma."

I lean in to gently kiss him. I can hardly wait. His lips are super soft and melt against mine so perfectly and I remember them being super warm and just amazing in general.

Unfortunately, that's not what I experience.

"K-Kenma! Did you sneeze on me?"

"Sorry, Shou. I didn't mean --" Another sneeze, this time a little bit louder.

And another one.

And another one.

"Kenma..."

A sniffle, "Yeah, Shou?"

"Are you sick?"

"No, I'm not, I pro--" Another sneeze, followed by a small cough.

Ah.

He's sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you guys enjoyed!
> 
> In reality, I do know that this isn't to the same degree as my previous short story, but I feel like the direction I'm going next (Which is their first date) will be of the same level of quality, and I hope you guys enjoy that in the upcoming days.
> 
> Take care, everyone!


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